Wishram Community Council April 4,2011

In attendance: Jeanne Simi, Holly Lay, Garrett Keeton, Jeri Hore Guests: Sheriff Rick Macomas, PUD representatives Meeting called to order at 5:10 by Jeanne Simi. PUD Water – There will be a hearing on May 28 on a proposed 1.5% rate increase. The work scheduled for this year: Replace pipes on Railroad Av., the Coffield well study, Wishram reservoir study, water system plan. There are currently 201 water hookups and they are permitted for 260. so no plan for expansion. Wastewater – Another small rate increase is scheduled for this system this year. PUD was questioned about flushing the lines with several residents saying there was a lot of crud in their water, Including the Fire Dept saying they have to change nozzles many times during a fire as they get clogged up with debris. PUD stated they flush the lines in May and Sept. If you have problems with this you may contact Tim Furlong at 773-3111. Electric – There were 3 outages in 2010 which fell within the standards. PUD now has a full time tree trimming crew. They have added no staff except at the landfill facility and are still using 2009 budget figures and are currently under budget for the year to date. Bonneville Power will be raising their rates by 8% in Oct which will increase PUD costs. PUD has absorbed the last two rate increases by BPA but can no longer do this so the wii be recommending a rate increase to the PUD board, which if passed will probably take effect Oct. 1. Landfill Project – The facility’s output is now 10 MW. The $65 million expansion, which is expected to be completed within 16 weeks will add 26 MW for a total of 36. PUD’s current load is bout 40 MW. EDA Grant The Community Council and the Fire Sept will be the recipients of their requested monies. The Fire Dept. requested funds for radio equipment and the Council wanted funding to help with “Lighting Up Wishram” Phase II. Lighting UP Wishram We have met with the property owner of the land who has agreed to grant a utility easement to PUD for placement of the new light poles. Prior to this there will have to be some cleanup as there is trash and lots of undergrowth and some trees that will have to be removed. Council is getting costs on this and will keep us informed. Town Cleanup Don’t forget to get your bags from the school and put them out on the road right of way for pick up on April 29. We are still looking for volunteers to weed eat Main St. contact Jeanne Simi for more info at 748-2202. July 4th Celebration Planning is underway with the theme of an “Old-Fashioned 4th”. Contact Jeanne Simi (748-2202) if you have ideas or wish to help out. Wishram Lake We made contact with one of the owners of Wishram Lake who reminded us that it is private property and not public land, which means any unauthorized activity is trespassing. Ross Management (Northwest Storage) has said they do not want anything disturbed at the lake until such time as an environmental assessment can be done. We still have to hear from the other owners on whether this is something they would be interested in pursuing. In light of this all plans for Wishram Lake are on hold. Train Park Bathrooms Despite all our efforts the bathrooms have been removed from the budget and we can get no answers on why! The new bathrooms at Lyle and Horsethief came from different agencies. Jeanne is trying to get info on the cost of the one at Horsethief for use in our fight. County Commissioner David Sauter has promised that the next bathroom in a Klickitat County Park will be at Wishram. Hope we can hold him to that. Railroad Grant As mentioned is last months paper, there is a grant we can apply for concerning railroad safety, history or informational. We requested anyone with ideas email Garrett Keeton but he has had no response. The suggestion came up at the meeting were informational signs around the edge of the park about how the railroad influenced Wishram. This would fall in line with the planned centennial celebration. A viewing platform and museum were also mentioned. Contact Garrett at ‘gkeeton@comcast.net with any idea or to help. Clarification There was some confusion about burn barrels in last months paper. Burn barrels are illegal, as is burning anything other than yard debris. Complaints can be sent to the Dept of Ecology for investigation. Complaints If you have a complaint about something going on in town contact Jeanne Simi to see if it is something council can help with. If not, she will try to direct you to the appropriate dept. Grant Garrett Keeton has found a grant that Wishram can apply for. It will cover anything that is railroad related, such as history, safety or informational. He and Linda Cassidy will be working on this as it is due June 15. If you have ideas for this grant’s use contact Garrett at ‘gkeeton@comcast.net’. Home and Garden Show This year’s show will be April 15 -17 at the fairgrounds in Goldendale and is free. Gorge Grown Food Forum This will be held at the Pioneer Center in White Salmon on April 9 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and is an opportunity for Gorge residents to come together to learn more about food and farm issues in the area, to build skills and make local connections. The event is free but is you want lunch the charge will be $10 and you need to preregister. School Let’s not forget the Silent Auction and Lip Sync on April 22 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM benefitting the Senior Class. There will be lots of really good items to bid on and the Lip Sync promises to big fun. Updates from the Sheriff He is trying to attend all council meetings to hear from the residents. They are still working on the problems that have been brought to them. He asked about our July 4th plans. Hopes he can attend for a while to show support for the community. He also reminded us to be considerate of our neighbors and to watch the time when setting off fireworks and as always to be careful with fireworks. He also informed us that about $1000 of the $5000 we can from Meth Action Team for the ‘Lighting Up Wishram’ project came from fines imposed on drug related convictions in our area.